Trade exchanges with Nigeria are regrettably low – Ghanaian envoy

What is the current level of bilateral relations between Nigeria and Ghana?That is both a difficult and an easy question. But let’s start with the easy one. It is easy in the sense that there is a lot going on between our two countries and it goes back to centuries ago in the Trans-Saharan Trade […]

What is the current level of bilateral relations between Nigeria and Ghana?
That is both a difficult and an easy question. But let’s start with the easy one. It is easy in the sense that there is a lot going on between our two countries and it goes back to centuries ago in the Trans-Saharan Trade through to the colonial period. And even during the colonial period, our civil service was mobile and exchanges were going on between the colonies.
After independence, the same thing has continued given our common history. The difficulty with the question is that between Ghana and Nigeria, when you ask of the levels, you can only speak in general terms because our data collection is difficult and our relations are very more informal than formal. For instance, if you ask me how many Ghanaians are in Nigeria and vice versa, I cannot answer that question. But there is a lot going on between our two countries in all spheres in terms of political exchanges, in terms of regular consultations between our political and public leaders, there is a lot going on at the cultural level between our two countries. Unfortunately, relationship at the cultural levels are not as they used to be, we don’t see much of that today in institutionalised form.
Then on the economic side which is even more important now, not to underestimate the political and the cultural, the levels are regrettably lower than they should be. If you look at the Nigerian side, in terms of financing and investment, Nigeria has comparative advantage over Ghana. So, we notice that a lot of Nigerian banks are locating in Ghana to help with promoting trade and investment within the Ghanaian economy and also between Nigeria and Ghana, supporting the exchanges. On our side, it is only one bank, the UT bank, which is Ghanaian-owned, that has been able to enter the Nigerian financial market in Lagos.
When it comes to trade, our trade exchanges are regrettably low because on the one hand despite the ECOWAS protocols on free movement of persons and goods, we still face certain obstacles to the exchanges, which need to be managed properly.
Can you confirm that the Nigerian financial companies shall be printing money for Ghana?
It may be true, but I don’t have confirmation to that.
What have been the greatest achievements of Ghana over the past few years? On another hand, if Kwame Nkrumah were to be alive today, will he be happy with what you have achieved so far?
The first great achievement in Ghana is to have followed through on Nkrumah’s pledge of Ghana to the African cause, that the independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked to the total liberation of Africa. With the collapse of Apartheid in 1994, that was achieved. The entire continent was liberated from colonial domination. So that is a major achievement by Ghana in terms of applying itself and its resource towards the liberation of Africa.
In terms of continental unity as well, if you recall, it started with Kwame Nkrumah who wanted us to have a United States of Africa because he was inspired based on his studies of the United States of America and how Africa could be if we are to follow the same line. We did not quite get there but we had a compromised Organisation of African Unity (OAU) which evolved into African Union. So in a way that is an achievement on the political side.
On the economic side it is a mixed bag, we have had ups and downs. The problem is how we can have a strategic vision which mobilises everybody irrespective of ethnic, religious and political affiliations to move forward. We had some setbacks but if you listened to my president’s speech during the independence broadcast, he was commending the different political parties for coming together to march against ethnic bigotry.
If we are able to overcome those distractions of narrow ethnicity, of compartmentalised partisanship and put country first, then the economic side will flow because we have the resources not just in Ghana, but in Nigeria. So, if Nkrumah were to come back today, this is the part that will hit him hard because he came out with a blueprint, a strategic development plan, which was not followed after he was overthrown, but which we are now trying to reengineer in order to move forward.
How has the security challenges in Nigeria affected your country?
My president, if you recall as ECOWAS chairman, indicated that whatever happens to any country in West Africa affects the rest of us.
What is your advice to Nigeria as it conducts elections?
What happens in Nigeria is very similar to what happens in Ghana. In Africa today, the key challenge for us is how we can use our elections to re-organise ourselves and not to allow elections to degenerate into conflicts. That is the challenge facing not only Nigeria but the rest of us and this is where institutions like ECOWAS and African Union need to harmonise their policies in order to ensure that we have credible elections, that the people can participate in and be satisfied with however imperfect it may be.
How can Nigeria and Ghana strengthen their ties?
We should go back to our roots and realise that we have a common ancestry. If we do that then national cohesion is easier and in regional integration, our officials in ECOWAS must do the same so that we can overcome this distraction of linguistic divide of Anglophone and Francophone countries.